There are a lot of writeups on Cyrano De Bergerac , but none include a plot summary, so I made one. Obviously, if you intend on reading or seeing the play, this is not for you.
Act I: Cyrano De Bergerac, intellectual and swordsman extraordinaire, and with a big nose that he is sensitive about, arrives at a play, where he scares off Montfleury, an actor who dared to flirt with Cyrano's cousin Roxane, who is also Cyrano's secret love. Vicomte de Valvert, who is a patron of the Comte De Guiche, who also loves Roxane, is challenged to duel by Cyrano after making the mistake of mocking Cyrano's nose, and loses. Cyrano departs after being informed by Roxane's servant that Roxane wishes to meet with him. Also, it is said that 100 assassins are in wait to kill Cyrano. This scene never actually occurs, but is only alluded to later.
Act II: Cyrano arrives at Ragueneau's bakery after defeating the assassins. Ragueneau is the cook with an overappreciation of poetry, and an underappreciation of economics, who is the comic relief of the play. Cyrano procures an audience alone with Roxane, before which he writes a letter to her. Roxane arrives, and she tells him she has a love. Cyrano thinks she means her, but is let down. She is talking about Baron Christian De Neuvilette, a new member of the guards, who loves her too. Cyrano pledges to protect him. De Guiche arrives, and basically threatens Cyrano to shape up or else. Cyrano rejects him, and the Cadets arrive with Christian. As Cyrano tells the story of the battle, Christian mocks his nose. Cyrano maintains his composure for a while, but eventually, he sends the Cadets out, and tells Christian that he is Roxane's cousin. Christian is apologetic, and they agree to collaborate on Roxane's love. Christian is bad with words, and Cyrano is ugly, so Cyrano will supply Christian with words.
Act III: De Guiche and Roxane talk. Roxane tries to convince De Guiche not to send the cadets to war, and actually convinces him not to. Christian tries to woo Roxane with words, but fails, and Cyrano takes over, and gets Christian his first kiss with Roxane. De Guiche sends a order for Roxane to get married with him. Roxane marries Christian instead, with Cyrano delaying De Guiche by pretending to be a man who fell from the moon. De Guiche is furious, and sends the Cadets, with Christian and Cyrano, to the front lines.
Act IV: The Cadets are at war, and there is not enough food to go around. Roxane sneaks through the Spanish lines and secretly brings food (cooked by Ragueneau) to them. In a surprise twist, De Guiche shows some good tendencies, when, after Roxane refuses to leave, swears to personally protect her. Roxane tells Christian that it is the letters that (though she is not aware of this) Cyrano has been writing to her that makes her love him, and she would love him even if he were ugly. Christian tells Cyrano this, and says that Cyrano must tell her, and let her pick. Cyrano is near telling her, but then the Spanish attack, and Christian is killed. Cyrano goes into direct battle, and the Act ends.
Act V: Fifteen years have passed. Roxane is still mourning in a nunnery, and Cyrano, who has survived, visits her weekly. It is the day of his visit. Cyrano is not doing well now, broke and hungry, as well as making political enemies. De Guiche, who turns out to be a decent guy, is trying to support him, but Cyrano refuses assistance. De Guiche is with Roxane at the nunnery, when Ragueneau runs in and says Cyrano has been hit with a log, attempted to be killed. He says this only to De Guiche, not to Roxane. Cyrano was knocked unconscious, but manages to make it to the nunnery. He requests of Roxane to read his last letter to her, and he does. Roxane realizes that Cyrano wrote all the letters, and her loves goes to him. However, Cyrano has killed himself making it to the nunnery, and dies.
The End